Inclusive Language in Library Metadata Statement : Information Services , Aberystwyth University

Inclusive Language in Library Metadata Statement

Our commitment

Information Services is committed to the on-going work of updating our metadata practices (our use of data to describe library resources) to reflect Aberystwyth University’s values of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. This commitment also extends to our requirements of third-party metadata suppliers.

Our acknowledgement

While we strive to use descriptions of our resources as carefully as possible, we acknowledge that previous descriptive practices and outdated metadata conventions sometimes produce language and information that are not historically accurate or are offensive or discriminatory.

We also acknowledge that terms and descriptions we use today may, in the future, prove to have been inappropriate or harmful and need updating.

Our library metadata context

Harmful language may be present in the catalogue, Primo, as a legacy of past practice, or because it hasn’t been updated while meanings and context have changed over time.

As well as creating our own bibliographic data today, however, we also import it from multiple sources, from publishers and suppliers and from other libraries via national and global aggregators like the UK’s Library Hub and Worldcat.

Libraries are committed to using up-to-date language and controlled vocabularies (see the Cataloguing Code of Ethics, below). Collaboratively produced terminology can be slow to change but we work with our system suppliers to ensure that when they do, our language is updated in the library catalogue, Primo.

Sometimes, however, standards require us to use language transcribed from the resource itself. In these instances, potentially harmful words are not censored because they provide historical context for understanding the time and place and the position of their creators and publishers.

How to report incorrect, harmful or offensive language in the library catalogue

We welcome your questions and feedback regardless of the reason for the presence of harmful or offensive language in the library catalogue. We have bibliographic descriptions for over 1.2 million resources in the library catalogue, Primo. We need your help to keep track of both the legacy data and the vast quantity of data describing the electronic resources we subscribe to.

We may be able to change problematic language in these records. If you encounter harmful language, please resourcediscovery@aber.ac.uk. We will respond to your feedback and communicate any action we take to update the language.

Drafted: August 2024

This statement was developed by the Resource Discovery team with support from the Library Systems User Group and the Information Services EDI Group. It has been adapted from a number of generously shared statements made accessible via The SILS Ethical and Inclusive Metadata Practices in UC Library Search (EIMP) Project Team. https://uc-sils.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/EIMPPT/pages/2454224897/Recommendations+and+Guidance+for+Creating+an+Inclusive+Language+in+Library+Metadata+Statement

Your feedback

Information Services/Resource Discovery welcomes your thoughts and suggestions on our approach to harmful language in the library catalogue. Please email us at resourcediscovery@aber.ac.uk